Top 10 Trends Facing California Employers in 2017

With a very Democratic state legislature that is well positioned to offset a very Republican White House, the following are the top 10 trends I saw in my practice from 2016 that inform what California employers can expect in 2017:

Disability claims, especially claims for failure to engage in the interactive process, are on the rise. So don’t skip the interactive dialogue steps (and make sure to document them) before you take action.

Age-based claims based on layoff decisions are consistently filed, so make sure that the basis for layoff decisions are well documented, not age-based, not salary-based (if that has a disparate impact on age), that every single employee laid off is shown a list of job openings at the company (whether qualified or not), and document that you showed them the list and asked if they were interested in or qualified for any of the open positions.

Now that recreational marijuana is legal and if unemployment stays relatively low and immigration laws tighten, expect more employers to forgo pre-employment drug screens due to a lack of eligible workers who are cannabis free.

One prediction from last year that hasn’t fully come to fruition, but merits a repeat mention, is to expect more wage and hour claims based on failure to pay overtime and/or sick pay at the proper rate.

And finally, as always, the devil is in the details. Quite often employers have the right policies, but simply don’t train new managers on them or ensure that they are consistently followed. Periodic Human Resources compliance audits and management training should be part of every company’s budget for 2017.